Sour Apple Jelly
by Kaleyanne
Summary: What if Botan returned Kuwabara's crush... after he's already fallen in love in Yukina? [BotanKuwa, KuwaYuki.]


Sour Apple Jelly   
  
"He's so devoted to her," Botan sighed dreamily.   
  
For all intents and purposes, the ponytailed girl was happy. Thrilled. Her pinkish eyes sparkled with well-faked joy, and her soft lips had curled into a convincing façade of a smile.   
  
She looked so happy. She looked like she would rather do nothing else besides watch a blushing Yukina accept an apple-red rose from a stuttering Kuwabara. She pretended to titter happily, and winced convincingly as Kurama teased Hiei about losing his baby sister.  
  
It looked so real, Yusuke observed. Even the way her ponytail bobbed was pure joy.   
  
But Botan had not been his guide and friend all this time for nothing.  
  
Thinking fast, Yusuke snagged her ponytail, as their little crowd dispersed. "Courtship Viewing" was a favorite entertainment among the Urameshi Team, and, to Shizuru and Hiei especially, Kazuma and Yukina were the most fun to watch.  
  
Botan swatted his hand way. Her pixie features had twisted from happiness to annoyance. Awfully cute annoyance.   
  
"You don't have to yank," she pouted.  
  
"Whatever." The detective leaned back against the tree they had been using as a cover. Lucky thing that Kuwabara and Yukina were the least observant people Yusuke knew. They would never notice him or Botan, as long as they weren't very obvious.  
  
It was only a matter of time.   
  
"Well?" the incongruous death-messenger inquired. She blew at an annoying strand of ice water hair hanging stubbornly in her eyes. All of her bouncing must have loosened it.   
  
"Well, what?" Yusuke asked stubbornly.   
  
"Well, what do you think?" Botan snapped back, hands on hips-- dangerously close to whipping out a big wooden oar, or metal baseball bat from whatever dimensional pocket she stored them in. Yusuke was seriously not fond of either weapon, but he really didn't care at the moment. He would weather the blow for Botan. The girl needed a stress reliever.  
  
But the blow never came. The pouty scowl on Botan's face dripped away, like raindrops off of a window. Her arms fell limply to her sides, as she exhaled. Every drop of her trademark vivacity flowed out with her breath. Long blue locks obscured her eyes as she slumped over.   
  
The usually cheery girl focused on Yusuke. "Am I that obvious?"  
  
Running a hand through his hair, Yusuke shrugged. "Only to someone who knows you," the teen delinquent said. "Or, rather, knows you have emotions beyond 'happy' and 'insane.'"  
  
"Just you, then."  
  
"And Shizuru. But I doubt she knows why."   
  
Botan tapped her foot.  
  
"And you do?"   
  
"I'd like to think so."   
  
The detective leveled a hard stare onto his assisstant. His whole predicament with the Spirit Realm and demon-fighting, he had the placed the blame firmly on her shoulders.   
  
And not a day went by when he didn't silently thank her for it.   
  
"I think you're jealous, Botan."   
  
Botan laughed-- a high-pitched giggle Yusuke would have placed at F sharp. It was enough to make a clown cry.   
  
"JEALOUS?" she shrilled. "What on earth do I have to be jealous of? Yukina-chan and Kuwa-chan? That's crazy!"   
  
"For God's sake, Botan, you just confirmed everything!" Yusuke thundered. "I'm not oblivious like the two lovebirds over there, and I know you better than our two demon geniuses. I know you well enough to know that you hide things by exaggerating!"   
  
His fist crashed into the thick trunk of the tree. The branches stirred, as the robins and sparrows screamed and twittered, letting all in the vicinity know how much they disapproved of this punk beating on their home.   
  
Yukina's green-blue ponytail slapped her pale neck, as she jerked her head to look at the disturbed tree. Her apple-red eyes widened in concern for all creatures.  
  
"Oh!" her perpetually pianissimo voice exclaimed. "What could be scaring all the birds?"  
  
"Never fear!" Kuwabara declared gallantly. "Your man Kuwabara will find out what could be cruel and vicious enough to enrage innocent birds!"   
  
Yusuke rolled his eyes, and, grabbing Botan around her waist, jumped into a different tree. Thankfully, it was birdless, and, hopefully, Kuwabara wouldn't look there.   
  
Clamping a hand over Botan's admittedly large mouth, Yusuke watched as his fellow fighter hunted through the tree. Under, around, and through. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to roll his eyes again, or smile. Not that he would admit under torture to thinking of him as such, but Kuwabara was his best friend, and while he looked pretty stupid, he also looked like the happiest man alive.   
  
As for Botan, she finally stopped resisting Yusuke's hold on her. Leveling her cutest scowl at him briefly, she went back to watching Kuwabara attempt to discover the source of the birds' discomfort. She could see the tender smile Yukina shined on him, and observed the increase of energy it ignited in the redhead. He wasn't even looking at his beloved, and yet... Somehow that unseen smile had reached him, and boosted his powers enough for a fighting-idiot like her to notice.   
  
'The power of love,' she thought glumly, as little Yukina trotted over to her Kazuma.   
  
Yukina looked down at Kazuma, absently noting how strange it felt to be above him. He was so tall! "What do you think it was?"   
  
Kuwabara frowned. "All I can find is this little raccoon," he explained, pointing it out to her. "I guess he scared them away by accident."  
  
"I guess."   
  
The bluenette knelt to the level of the masked animal. She wondered vaguely if Kurama knew of any raccoon-demon thieves. She would have to ask him one day, they certainy looked like they would make good bandits.   
  
Carefully, Yukina extended one of her tiny, bone-white hands. Her fingers were bent slightly, to appear unthreatening. Right now, she would focus on making friends with this raccoon.  
  
The raccoon edged up to her cautiously, deciding that he was daring enough to gauge the young girl's scent. She waited patiently, still as a statue. Her breathing had slowed almost to the point of nonexistance.  
  
Slowly, hesitantly, the raccoon stepped up a little further. The demon held her tentative ground, smiling with the purest joy when the raccoon's head gently butted against her palm.   
  
Enchanted by the demon girl's giggles (such soft tinkling bells!), Kuwabara slowly scooted up to sit next to her. He slowed his own breathing, and kept his hands behind him, careful not to startle the animal.   
  
But somehow, Kuwabara threatened the raccoon. The furry mammal glanced at the tall fighter briefly, before darting back into the underbrush.   
  
Startled, Kuwabara jumped up, hoping his abscence would encourage the raccoon to return to Yukina. Guiltily he glanced down at the warm-eyed snow demon. It wasn't his place to rob Yukina of any sort of joy she might find in the cruel Human Realm.   
  
"Forgive me, p-please, Yukina-san!" he stammered, embarassed.   
  
Yukina looked up at him, smiling sadly.   
  
"He's afraid of you," she said quietly. "But not of me, you see, because I am a demon."   
  
Gracefully, she accepted the hand Kazuma lent her, and pulled herself to her feet. Her blood-red gaze trailed after the little raccoon.  
  
"Demons are closer to animals than humans are," she explained matter-of-factly, brushing grass off of her kimono. "We're more barbaric, and uncivilized."   
  
"Not you," the redhead said quietly. "You're an angel, Yukina-san."   
  
"K-k-kazuma-san!" she exclaimed, pale cheeks flushing to give her eyes some competition. But the shy smile she wore as she linked her arm with Kuwabara's indicated she did not mind too much.   
  
Seeing Yukina's smile, and the corresponding grin Kuwabara sported, the guide to the dead allowed her shoulders to relax into an unfamiliar slump. As the human-demon couple strolled off cheerfully, alien tears formed in her large eyes.   
  
And one lone tear slipped down her rosy cheek.  
  
Pausing only briefly, to allow the couple time to leave, Yusuke maneuvered Botan so that he was carrying her princess-style. Assured he would not drop her (and be thwapped by that dang oar), the delinquent detective deftly jumped down.  
  
Bending his knees on impact, as the acrobatic Kurama's nerve-wracking battles had taught him, Yusuke lighted gently and stood Botan upright.   
  
The death maiden sighed. "I am obvious." She shook her head, the two loose, wispy locks of ice blue hair caressing her delicate face. She wished they would brush away the freely falling tears that inched from her cherry blossom eyes.  
  
She wished she had given Kuwabara's crush on her the time of day. She had dismissed him so quickly, so unfairly! Just because he was a human, and she was a spirit.   
  
So, she had tried to ignore the goofy grins and gallant declarations of what "Kuwabara the man" would do in her honor. She would just laugh or stutter an amused "Kuwa-chan!"   
  
She wished he would find a nice girl for himself. She cared for him fiercely, quickly. He'd been so kind to Keiko when Yusuke had died, and had proven he would do anything for any friend.   
  
She had imagined the perfect girl for him. A delicate, pale girl, with warm-colored eyes and soft bluish hair. Maybe not that much fighting prowess, but a big heart. She would pull her hair back into a thick ponytail, and he would devote himself to her, forever and always.  
  
Even now, she didn't realize she had vaguely described herself.   
  
But she recognized her description as fitting Yukina.   
  
Instantly, those gallant declarations were only for the young ice maiden.  
  
Sure, Kuwabara still teased and hung out with her. They considered themselves very close friends; his use of "Botan-chan" confirmed that. And it was common knowledge that she was the only one who could get away with calling him "Kuwa-chan" and not get beaten up.  
  
As the redhead's romantic attention drifted away from her, Botan found herself missing it. She was surprised to see she missed him agreeing with her all time and promising to take care of Yusuke for her. She missed his old-fashioned mannerisms toward her.   
  
It was his fight with Risho when she realized she was reciprocating that crush. Her hypothetical heart had been in her mouth, when she realized he was burning his life energy.   
  
Her feelings had cemented when he ordered Kurama and Hiei to stay back, and declared he would attack the younger Toguro brother one last time before he died. He would die to allow Yusuke to defeat Toguro and save them all...   
  
If Yukina and Shizuru hadn't needed her, she might have been crying herself.   
  
"He never pays any attention to me anymore," Botan whispered to Yusuke. "We'll be talking, and once Yukina-chan shows up, he focuses on her. It's like I don't exist."   
  
"You exist," Yusuke murmured, giving her ponytail an affectionate tug. She hated that; he waited for the spirit to slap him.   
  
Botan hugged him instead.   
  
"I know he loves her," she continued. "It's like you said, sometimes love at first sight is real." The girl sniffled, and Yusuke embraced her hesitantly, feeling like a sensitive idiot.  
  
"And Yukina-chan loves Kuwabara-kun, too, and I don't want to ruin that. Since Hiei will never say he's Yukina-chan's brother, she deserves someone, doesn't she?"   
  
"I get it." The detective patted his assisstant's back awkwardly.  
  
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" Botan asked, looking him straight in the eye. "Especially not Shizuru-san?"   
  
"I promise."  
  
Botan hugged Yusuke tighter.  
  
"Thank you."   
  
---  
  
1) Why Botan/Kuwabara?  
  
Because I always thought his crush on her was sweet. And... well... my initial reaction to Yukina, with the blue ponytail, kimono and healing powers was "Botan ripoff!" I've changed that opinion; I'm very fond of both girls now.  
  
Besides, Botan gets to go on adventures and Yukina is just an excuse for Hiei to angst and Kuwabara to be funny. =)   
  
2) Why this way? Why not break up Kuwa-chan and Yukina?  
  
If BotKuw is sweet, YukKuw could kill a diabetic on sight.   
  
Plus, the episode before Hiei fights Makintaro and Kuromomotaro, when Botan and Kuwabara are talking, and then Yukina walks up? Botan starts pouting (eh, not really) and complaining mentally about Yukina getting more attention. I wondered...  
  
3) Why Yusuke?  
  
It was either him or Shizuru. Genkai and Koenma didn't feel right, I can't find a credible reason for Kurama or Hiei to care, Keiko is content with Botan being Miss Perky and fairly oblivious, and Yukina and Kuwabara are pretty obvious.   
  
I chose Yusuke simply because Shizuru would be slightly more biased. I think.   
  
4) What's up with that title?!  
  
Sour Apple = jealousy = jelly. Strange word association; sue me. 


End file.
